Abstract [en]

Nickel-base alloys due to their high performances have been widely used in biomass and coal fired power plants. They can undertake plastic deformation with different strain rates such as those typically seen during creep and fatigue at elevated temperatures. In this study, the mechanical behaviours of Alloy 617 with strain rates from 10-2/s down to 10-6/s at temperatures of 650°C and 700°C have been studied using tensile tests. Furthermore, the microstructures have been investigated using electron backscatter detection and electron channeling contrast imaging. At relatively high strain rate, the alloy shows higher fracture strains at these temperatures. The microstructure investigation shows that it is caused by twinning induced plasticity due to DSA. The fracture strain reaches the highest value at a strain rate of 10-4/s and then it decreases dramatically. At strain rate of 10-6/s, the fracture strain at high temperature is now smaller than that at room temperature, and the strength also decreases with further decreasing strain rate. Dynamic recrystallization can also be observed usually combined with crack initiation and propagation. This is a new type of observation and the mechanisms involved are discussed.

Abstract [en]

The global increase in energy consumption and the global warming from greenhouse gas emission creates the need for more environmental friendly energy production processes. Biomass power plants with higher efficiency could generate more energy but also reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, e.g. CO2. Biomass is the largest global contributor to renewable energy and offers no net contribution of CO2 to the atmosphere. One way to increase the efficiency of the power plants is to increase temperature and pressure in the boiler parts of the power plant.

The materials used for the future biomass power plants, with higher temperature and pressure, require improved properties, such as higher yield strength, creep strength and high-temperature corrosion resistance. Austenitic stainless steels and nickel-base alloys have shown good mechanical and chemical properties at the operation temperatures of today’s biomass power plants. However, the performance of austenitic stainless steels at the future elevated temperatures is not fully understood.

The aim of this licentiate thesis is to increase our knowledge about the mechanical performance of austenitic stainless steels at the demanding conditions of the new generation power plants. This is done by using slow strain rate tensile deformation at elevated temperature and long term hightemperature ageing together with impact toughness testing. Microscopy is used to investigate deformation, damage and fracture behaviours during slow deformation and the long term influence of temperature on toughness in the microstructure of these austenitic alloys. Results show that the main deformation mechanisms are planar dislocation deformations, such as planar slip and slip bands. Intergranular fracture may occur due to precipitation in grain boundaries both in tensile deformed and impact toughness tested alloys. The shape and amount of σ-phase precipitates have been found to strongly influence the fracture behaviour of some of the austenitic stainless steels. In addition, ductility is affected differently by temperature depending on alloy tested and dynamic strain ageing may not always lead to a lower ductility.

Abstract [en]

Advanced heat resistant materials are important to achieve the transition to long term sustainable power generation. The global increase in energy consumption and the global warming from greenhouse gas emissions create the need for more sustainable power generation processes. Biomass-fired power plants with higher efficiency could generate more power but also reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, e.g. CO2. Biomass offers no net contribution of CO2 to the atmosphere. To obtain greater efficiency of power plants, one option is to increase the temperature and the pressure in the boiler section of the power plant. This requires improved material properties, such as higher yield strength, creep strength and high-temperature corrosion resistance, as well as structural integrity and safety.

Today, some austenitic stainless steels are design to withstand temperatures up to 650 °C in tough environments. Nickel-based alloys are designed to withstand even higher temperatures. Austenitic stainless steels are more cost effective than nickel-based alloys due to a lower amount of expensive alloying elements. However, the performance of austenitic stainless steels at the elevated temperatures of future operation conditions in biomass-red power plants is not yet fully understood.

This thesis presents research on the influence of long term high-temperature ageing on mechanical properties, the influence of very slow deformation rates at high-temperature on deformation, damage and fracture, and the influence of high-temperature environment and cyclic operation conditions on the material behaviour. Mechanical and thermal testing have been performed followed by subsequent studies of the microstructure, using scanning electron microscopy, to investigate the material behaviours.

Results shows that long term ageing at high temperatures leads to the precipitation of intermetallic phases. These intermetallic phases are brittle at room temperature and become detrimental for the impact toughness of some of the austenitic stainless steels. During slow strain rate tensile deformation at elevated temperature time dependent deformation and recovery mechanisms are pronounced. The creep-fatigue interaction behaviour of an austenitic stainless steel show that dwell time gives shorter life at a lower strain range, but has none or small effect on the life at a higher strain range.

Finally, this research results in an increased knowledge of the structural, mechanical and chemical behaviour as well as a deeper understanding of the deformation, damage and fracture mechanisms that occur in heat resistant austenitic alloys at high-temperature environments. It is believed that in the long term, this can contribute to material development achieving the transition to more sustainable power generation in biomass-red power plants.